Mumbai: The bickering within the Congress -NCP alliance became evident Friday after an office-bearer of the Ahmednagar unit of the Rahul Gandhi-led party declared support to Sujay Vikhe-Patil, the BJP candidate from the Lok Sabha seat in Western Maharashtra Sujay’s father, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, is a senior leader of the Congress in Maharashtra.
The Congress leader was keen to field his son from Ahmednagar on its ticket, but the NCP, which had been contesting the seat as per the arrangement between the two parties, did not relent. Sujay Vikhe-Patil, who is pitted against NCP’s Sangram Jagtap in the constituency, earlier this month joined the ruling BJP.
Balasaheb Haral, general secretary of the Ahmednagar unit of the Congress, said the Vikas Aaghadi in Ahmednagar taluka, a local front which also has Shiv Sena on board, has decided to support Sujay Vikhe-Patil in the election. Haral, however, said the decision to support the BJP candidate was of the Aaghadi and not of the Congress.
“The NCP had opened front against us (the Aaghadi) in Ahmednagar during Zilla Parishad polls…Sujay Vikhe-Patil had toiled for us in the Zilla Parishad polls. “He had to go there (join the BJP) due to compulsion. We all in the Aaghadi have decided that we should back him,” Haral said.
To drive home his point, Haral also recalled that 18 NCP corporators had voted for the BJP in the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation mayoral election, which the NDA lead player had won. “They supported the BJP then, why can’t we?” asked Haral. Polling in Ahmednagar, where the sitting MP is Dilip Gandhi of the BJP, will be held in the third phase on April 23.